Ontogeny and function of the intestinal epithelial and innate immune cells during early development of chicks: to explore in ovo immunomodulatory nutrition.

Intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) and innate immune cells in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of chickens play crucial roles in pathogens defense and maintaining gut health. However, their effectiveness influenced with their developmental and functional stages during pre and post hatch periods of chick. During embryonic development, differentiation and migration of these innate immune systems are tightly regulated by diverse cellular and molecular factors.

Methionine and vitamin E supplementation improve production performance, antioxidant potential, and liver health in aged laying hens.

Sulfur metabolites of methionine (Met) and vitamin E (VE) have antioxidant potential and can maintain liver health in chickens. This study explored the underlying mechanisms of Met sources, the ratio of total sulfur amino acids to lysine (TSAA: Lys), and VE levels on production performances, antioxidant potential, and hepatic oxidation in aged laying hens. Eight hundred and sixty-four, Hy-Line Brown laying hens (70-week age) were divided into 12 treatment groups, each having 6 repeats and 12 birds/each repeat.

Dairy Farmers' Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP) Towards Aflatoxin Contamination in Milk and Feeds in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.

Aflatoxins, primary foodborne mycotoxins, come from and fungi. They pose significant health risks to humans and animals, creating a major challenge in the dairy sector. The objective of this study is to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of dairy farmers regarding aflatoxin contamination in milk and feeds.

N-Carbamylglutamate in ovo feeding improves carcass yield, muscle fiber development, and meat quality in broiler chickens.

Background: Insufficient endogenous nutrients in the broiler embryo can lead to muscle gluconeogenesis, which ultimately affects the post-hatching performance of chicks. This study investigated the effects of in ovo feeding (IOF) of N-carbamylglutamate (NCG) on the growth hormones, carcass yield, and meat quality in broilers. Fertile eggs from a 30-week-old Ross 308 breeder flock were divided into three treatment groups: NC (non-injection), SC (100 μL saline-injection), and NCG (2 mg NCG injection).

Inclusion of guanidinoacetic acid in a low metabolizable energy diet improves broilers growth performance by elevating energy utilization efficiency through modulation serum metabolite profile.

This study was aimed to explore the elevating energy utilization efficiency mechanism for the potentially ameliorative effect of guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) addition on growth performance of broilers fed a low metabolizable energy (LME) diet. A total of 576 d old broilers were randomly allocated to one of the six treatments: a basal diet (normal ME, positive control, PC), or an LME diet (50 kcal/kg reduction in ME, negative control, NC) supplemented with 0.02%, 0.

Biophysiology of in ovo administered bioactive substances to improve gastrointestinal tract development, mucosal immunity, and microbiota in broiler chicks.

Early embryonic exogenous feeding of bioactive substances is a topic of interest in poultry production, potentially improving gastrointestinal tract (GIT) development, stimulating immunization, and maximizing the protection capability of newly hatched chicks. However, the biophysiological actions and effects of in ovo administered bioactive substances are inconsistent or not fully understood. Thus, this paper summarizes the functional effects of bioactive substances and their interaction merits to augment GIT development, the immune system, and microbial homeostasis in newly hatched chicks.

Secondary school teachers code of ethics in Ethiopia: implications for policy and practice.

This study investigated the implementation level of teachers' code of ethics in secondary schools in Ethiopia. A descriptive survey research design with quantitative and qualitative approaches was employed. The study participants were 404 teachers, 289 students, 10 principals, and 5 district education office experts.

Genome-wide association analysis identified consistent QTL for seed yield in a soybean diversity panel tested across multiple environments.

Improving seed yield is one of the main targets of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] breeding.

Stable sorghum grain quality QTL were identified using SC35 × RTx430 mapping population.

Understanding the genetic control and inheritance of grain quality traits is instrumental in facilitating end-use quality improvement. This study was conducted to identify and map quantitative trait loci (QTL) controlling protein, starch, and amylose content in grain sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] grown under variable environmental conditions.

Potential Feed Additives as Antibiotic Alternatives in Broiler Production.

This article aimed to describe the current use scenario, alternative feed additives, modes of action and ameliorative effects in broiler production. Alternative feed additives have promising importance in broiler production due to the ban on the use of certain antibiotics. The most used antibiotic alternatives in broiler production are phytogenics, organic acids, prebiotics, probiotics, enzymes, and their derivatives.

Genotyping-by-sequencing and genomic selection applications in hexaploid triticale.

Triticale, a hybrid species between wheat and rye, is one of the newest additions to the plant kingdom with a very short history of improvement. It has very limited genomic resources because of its large and complex genome. Objectives of this study were to generate dense marker data, understand genetic diversity, population structure, linkage disequilibrium (LD), and estimate accuracies of commonly used genomic selection (GS) models on forage yield of triticale.

Functional phenomics and genetics of the root economics space in winter wheat using high-throughput phenotyping of respiration and architecture.

The root economics space is a useful framework for plant ecology but is rarely considered for crop ecophysiology. In order to understand root trait integration in winter wheat, we combined functional phenomics with trait economic theory, utilizing genetic variation, high-throughput phenotyping, and multivariate analyses. We phenotyped a diversity panel of 276 genotypes for root respiration and architectural traits using a novel high-throughput method for CO flux and the open-source software RhizoVision Explorer to analyze scanned images.

Selection signatures across seven decades of hard winter wheat breeding in the Great Plains of the United States.

Classical plant breeding has been instrumental in changing the genetic makeup of crop plants for better ecological adaptation and improved quality. This paper provides insights of the genomic changes effected in hard winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) through decades of breeding and selection in the Great Plains of the United States.

Comparative Analysis of Root Transcriptome Reveals Candidate Genes and Expression Divergence of Homoeologous Genes in Response to Water Stress in Wheat.

Crop cultivars with larger root systems have an increased ability to absorb water and nutrients under conditions of water deficit. To unravel the molecular mechanism of water-stress tolerance in wheat, we performed RNA-seq analysis on the two genotypes, Colotana 296-52 (Colotana) and Tincurrin, contrasting the root growth under polyethylene-glycol-induced water-stress treatment. Out of a total of 35,047 differentially expressed genes, 3692 were specifically upregulated in drought-tolerant Colotana under water stress.

Comparison of TaqMan, KASP and rhAmp SNP genotyping platforms in hexaploid wheat.

Advances in high-throughput genotyping enable the generation of genome-scale data much more easily and at lower cost than ever before. However, small-scale and cost-effective high-throughput single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping technologies are still under development. In this study, we compared the performances of TaqMan, KASP and rhAmp SNP genotyping platforms in terms of their assay design flexibility, assay design success rate, allele call rate and quality, ease of experiment run and cost per sample.

Genome-Wide Association Mapping of Major Root Length QTLs Under PEG Induced Water Stress in Wheat.

Roots are vital plant organs that determine adaptation to various soil conditions. The present study evaluated a core winter wheat collection for rooting depth under PEG induced early stage water stress and non-stress growing conditions. Analysis of phenotypic data indicated highly significant ( < 0.

Genome-Wide Association Mapping of Seedling Heat Tolerance in Winter Wheat.

Heat stress during the seedling stage of early-planted winter wheat ( L.) is one of the most abiotic stresses of the crop restricting forage and grain production in the Southern Plains of the United States. To map quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and identify single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers associated with seedling heat tolerance, a genome-wide association mapping study (GWAS) was conducted using 200 diverse representative lines of the hard red winter wheat association mapping panel, which was established by the Triticeae Coordinated Agricultural Project (TCAP) and genotyped with the wheat iSelect 90K SNP array.

Triticale Improvement for Forage and Cover Crop Uses in the Southern Great Plains of the United States.

Triticale (× Wittmack) is a man-made species developed by crossing wheat ( spp.) and rye ( L.).

Identification and validation of a major chromosome region for high grain number per spike under meiotic stage water stress in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.).

Grain number is a major trait for wheat yield under dryland farming. An International Triticeae Mapping Initiative (ITMI) mapping population comprising 105 recombinant inbred lines (RIL) developed from a cross between a Synthetic hexaploid wheat (Triticum aestivum) 'W7984' and a spring wheat variety 'Opata M85' was used to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with grain number per spike under two treatment conditions, normal watering and water stress during meiosis. Two major QTL for grain number per spike on the main stem Q.

Development of a simple and effective silver staining protocol for detection of DNA fragments.

Silver staining is one of the widely used methods for DNA fragment detection in biological research. Silver staining protocols have been steadily optimized to improve detection efficiency. This research reports a continuous effort to simplify the existing silver staining protocols, lower experiment cost, and improve DNA detection sensitivity and image clarity.